


Finally

by bdanderson



Series: Crisscolfer One-Shots [3]
Category: Glee RPF
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-08
Updated: 2015-09-08
Packaged: 2018-04-19 15:33:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,146
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4751621
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bdanderson/pseuds/bdanderson
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i>“My ex stole my pet and I need your help to get it back.”</i>
</p>
            </blockquote>





	Finally

**Author's Note:**

> I kind of went a little overboard with this one, but this is basically just a lot of words about stupid boys with feelings.  
> (Mentions of Will - although he’s not a big part of the story at all. Also, canonfic? Kind of? Set during the filming of season six.)
> 
> Again, huge thanks to @somethingdarrenish and @salfblog! I'll never know how to thank you girls enough. Lots of love. <3

“What happened?” Darren asks worriedly and barges in without knocking to find a desperate Chris sitting on the floor of his own living room. “I came as soon as I got your text. What’s wrong?”

“It’s- it’s Cooper. Darren, he- he’s gone, I can’t-”

Darren feels cold all over. “Chris? Come on, look at me.” He scoots down on the floor so he can touch him, a reassuring hand against his friend’s knee. He swallows hard before asking, “What do you mean he’s gone?”

“He’s not- he didn’t die, oh my _God_ , no. But he’s gone. I can’t find him, I looked _everywhere_ and I-”

“Hey, shhh. Just breathe for a second, alright?” He searches Chris’s eyes, an awful feeling gnawing at the pit of his stomach. “Breathe for me.”

Visibly trying to pull himself together, Chris inhales deeply, meeting Darren’s gaze with a distressed expression on his face.

“He took him, Darren. He stole my fucking dog.”

“What? Who?” He questions exasperatedly, helping Chris stand up.

Chris just gives him a look and he immediately knows exactly who he’s talking about.

“That son of a bitch.” Darren says.

Chris sighs tiredly, a hand running through his wild hair. “We were okay. We were actually okay with the breakup but he—Why the hell would he take the dog?”

“Well, he was the one who bought him, wasn’t he?” Darren tries to reason carefully. Chris looks at him with a confused expression but nods his head encouragingly, urging Darren on. “But still,” Darren continues. “He knows how much you love Cooper, man! He gave him to you! I remember, I was there.” Darren swallows almost audibly, pushing away the unpleasant memory of so often seeing Chris with… that man. “So technically, he’s yours. He was a present, right? You can’t just take presents back.”

Darren only realizes Chris’s amused eyes are looking (adoringly?) over at him when he finally stops rambling. He takes a deep breath and shrugs sheepishly, a small smile forming at the corner of his lips.

“You’re right. Which is why you’re helping me get him back.”

 *

“So, how are we doing this?” Darren asks.

“If his schedule didn’t change, he’s supposed to be at work by the time we get there.”

“Alright. How are we getting in?”

Chris holds a bobby pin right in front of Darren’s face. “I have more skills than you could possibly imagine, dear.”

*

“This is incredible. How the f- where did you learn to do that?” Darren whispers while repeatedly looking over his shoulder to check for any inconveniences.

“I watch a lot of Youtube videos when I’m bored,” Chris simply answers. “Yes, fuck, got it. It’s open.”

“That was so cool.” Darren marvels. “So do I stay here and keep watch while you go get him?”

“That’s what we planned, right?” Chris puts the bobby pin back in his pocket and all but runs inside the unoccupied apartment. As soon as he does, Cooper comes barging through, wagging his tail uncontrollably and jumping up and down, almost taking Chris to the floor.

“Hey there, baby! Are you happy to see Daddy? Are you?”

“Of course he’s happy. Look at how fucking happy he is to see you. Oh my God, Chris, this is adorable.” Darren looks at them with what is probably the sappiest, most ridiculous expression in the world ever. Cooper barks loudly and attempts to lick Chris’s face, but his friend manages to deflect it with a high-pitched laugh.

“Are you ready to go home? Daddy missed you.” Chris runs his long fingers over Cooper’s soft fur and the scene is so absurdly cute that Darren finds himself smiling like an idiot at the two.

Chris looks away from Cooper and up at Darren, meeting his eyes with a sweet grin. It’s a delightfully small moment that only lasts a second, because soon Chris is concentrating on putting the leash on Cooper so they can all leave.

“You turn into a totally different person when you’re around him or Brian,” Darren says, not even registering the words coming out of his mouth. “It’s nice to watch.”

“Yeah, well.” Chris looks— sheepish? Is that a sheepish look? _Is he blushing?_ No, duh, of course he’s not blushing. Chris doesn’t blush, and certainly not around Darren. “They’re my babies. Are you ready to go?”

“Yeah, um. Sure.”

Chris stands up, holding Cooper’s leash in one hand and fidgeting nervously with the other. He takes a step closer, his face suddenly right there in front of Darren’s, and presses a small, fast kiss to Darren’s cheek.

“Thank you for doing this. You didn’t need to.”

Darren blinks hard and gapes at his friend, dumbfounded. “Of- of course, yeah. Anytime.”

*

After Chris leaves a naughty note on his ex’s freezer ( _“Don’t you ever try to pull something like that again. If you ever want to see the pets, you can call me"_ ), they both take the stairs down to the exit and rapidly walk towards Darren’s car, careful not to be seen by anyone who might recognize them.

Once they’re both seated, Cooper behind them taking nearly the entire back seat, Chris looks blankly out the window. “I can’t believe he actually took the dog.”

“I can’t believe we actually stole him back.” Darren reaches behind him to pet at Cooper’s head. The dog responds with a loud bark and a long swing of his tail. “Damn, I can see why you love him so much. Is he always this fucking cute all the time?”

“Except when he’s peeing on the sofa. Or eating my shoes.” Chris laughs, joining Darren with the petting. “But really, thank you again for doing this.”

“Nah, I know how much your pets mean to you. You don’t need to thank me.” He almost adds, _‘that’s what friends are for, right?’_ , but decides against it. It’s too weird, almost too impersonal to call Chris just a friend. Darren knows how he feels about Chris, has known it since that one off-camera kiss they shared so long ago during a cast party, but life is a mess and everything is complicated so he simply hides his feelings away. It’s the easy thing to do. Even when he has to watch the person who means the most to him be with someone else.

Chris smiles at him and moves his hand to Darren’s knee, squeezing it delicately.

“Do you want to take me home and maybe watch some Downton Abbey?” Chris asks. If Darren didn’t know any better, he would almost think Chris sounds hopeful. “I may have leftover Chinese in my refrigerator.”

“You had me at leftover.”

*

When Chris and Will broke up, Darren tried really hard to be sympathetic. He did. He acted like a good friend and even let Chris vent about it on the phone with him for hours. But the truth was that… Darren couldn’t help but feel just a tiny bit happy about it.

The first time he saw the two of them together, Chris and Darren were such in a bad place with their friendship that Darren didn’t even know Chris had met someone new. After Chris treated what happened that night as if it was nothing when to Darren it was _everything_ , he started to drift away. He didn’t do it on purpose, but the tension between them was way too thick and Darren just— couldn’t. Seeing them together made Darren feel all sorts of terrible things inside, things he didn’t even know he was capable of feeling. Sometimes it was so bad he felt like he couldn’t breathe.

He got to a point where he blurted everything out to Chord one day, everything he was feeling and how stupid and hopeless it all was. He told Chord about that one kiss that made him realize just how much Chris really meant to him, and how the next day Chris simply brushed it off as a drunken thing, as if he hadn’t taken all the breath right out of Darren’s lungs just the night before. Then he told him how shitty it felt to see Chris holding someone else’s hand, kissing someone else’s lips and dancing with someone else’s body pressed against his during all those parties nearly the entire cast went to. Even shooting scenes with him became a hard thing and Darren _didn’t know what to do_.

Chord had been great back then, offering friendly support, a shoulder to cry on, and beer. So much beer. On days like that one, he remembers drinking so much that he passed out more than once.

But it helped him forget, even if only for a little while. He was grateful for having a friend like Chord to help him get through his stupid heartbreak — one he could have avoided if he wasn’t _so fucking dumb._

His friendship with Chris eventually got better again, and now that Glee is almost over and there’s no boyfriend and none of Darren’s fears holding him back, he is determined to finally make things right. But not now. Chris just broke up with someone he was _sharing an apartment with_ for God’s sake, and Darren actually wants a chance so he’ll do it when it’s right.

Even if Chris turns him down and says he was never interested in having anything like that with Darren, at least he will know he wasn’t a coward for once and that he actually tried. He can (hopefully) live with rejection. But he’s not sure if he can live without telling Chris how he really feels.

Though when he’s sitting there on Chris’s sofa, it’s so hard to not just grab that pretty face and plant one right on those pink, full lips. Chris is actually watching the TV but Darren is just watching him — the way his eyes light up during an exciting scene and the way he just forgets about the food sitting on the arm of the sofa when he gets too caught up in the episode.

Darren is so far gone it’s almost embarrassing.

“Oh my God look at them,” Chris whispers, taking Darren out of his reverie. He follows Chris’s line of vision and catches Cooper and Brian curled up on the floor, both sound asleep. Chris pauses the TV and takes his phone out of his pocket, snapping a picture and showing it to Darren. “Awww, that’s totally going on Instagram.”

*

They’re sitting in a fake elevator. They’ve been sitting in a fake elevator for _five fucking hours_ and they didn’t even start making out yet. Darren has no idea why but that’s something that needs to be changed immediately.

“Can we start making out now?” He screams at the director, who just laughs out loud and tells him to be patient.

When everyone else is paying attention to their own jobs, Chris rolls his head to the side so he can look at Darren. “Eager, are we?”

“Duh.” Darren rocks their knees together, eliciting a giggle from Chris. “Those are always my favorite scenes to shoot. Besides, I won’t get much more of that after we’re done with the show, so…”

Chris snorts and looks down at his hands, biting his bottom lip. “Stop it.”

“Stop what?”

“Teasing.” Chris pokes at his thigh, making him move his leg away from Chris’s reach with a small _‘ouch.’_ “You don’t actually enjoy kissing me, so shush.”

Never in his entire life has Darren heard something so absurdly untrue. “Why would you say that?”

Chris gives him an annoyed look. “Darren. The day a straight guy starts to enjoy kissing other guys, especially guys like me, it’s… definitely going to be weird, to say the least.”

Darren shakes his head and gives him a look. “It’s not about the accessories, man. It’s about the whole— thing. It’s about—”

“Are you seriously telling me—?”

“What? That I like your whole thing?”

“No,” Chris says slowly, carefully drawing the word out. “Well, I guess that too. I was going to ask if— Darren, for fuck’s sake, are you telling me you like guys too?”

“You have got to be kidding me,” Darren gawks at him. They’re not seriously having this conversation right now. Of course Chris knows! Darren has _specifically_ told him just how much he likes guys. He has even _showed_ him.

“I— oh God, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to—”

“No, Chris, oh my God, shut up. You seriously didn’t know? Because I remember having this exact conversation with you before. Well, not with so many words, but…”

“I thought you were kidding!” Chris admits loudly. “You know, trying to make fun of me or something.”

Darren’s gaze turns serious instantly, an almost dangerous fire invading his eyes. “I would never do that.”

“I— I know. I’m sorry,” Chris starts to nervously bite his thumb nail, and Darren doesn’t even realize it when he grabs his wrist to make him stop.

Then Chris is slapping him and Darren has no idea what the hell is happening.

“You asshole! All this time…” Chris lets the sentence wander and looks down, looking embarrassed and almost pissed.

“What? Chris, wha—?”

“I had a _major_ crush on you, you stupid dumbshit. Back— um, way back. On tour,” their eyes meet, and Chris looks so vulnerable that Darren wants to bury his face in that neck and hug him tightly. “But I backed off because I thought— well, you know what I thought. I didn’t have a chance because I was a guy and then you kissed me that night and that’s when I knew I needed to start meeting new people. So I could—”

“So you could forget,” Darren finishes for him just before their director calls out, _“Alright guys, we’re ready!”_

Darren looks at Chris desperately, taking his hand between both of his and squeezing it hard. “Can you meet me back at my trailer when we’re done? This is obviously a conversation we need to have,” he pleads, thumb caressing the back of Chris’s hand. “I have a lot to say to you.”

“Yeah, um. Yeah,” Chris squeezes his hand back and they both move to their respective positions to start shooting.

*

They wrap the day without finishing the elevator scene at all. Actually, they don’t even start shooting the kiss and that’s probably a very good thing, considering the thick tension built between them. Although it ends up being useful and making the scene between Kurt and Blaine feel more real, Darren hates it. He hates looking into Chris’s eyes and meeting only nervousness and discomfort, despite how good he is at hiding it.

As soon as Darren gets into his trailer, there’s a knock on the door.

“I-I couldn’t wait, sorry,” Chris stutters out when Darren answers, stepping inside Darren’s trailer and nervously pacing around. “What’s— What’s even happening here?”

“Hey, hey, slow down.” Darren reaches for him and ends up with his hands on Chris’s biceps. Then he guides him to the sofa and makes him sit. “I’m gonna get us some apple juice, alright?”

Chris nods, sighing quietly.

*

When Darren comes back, two full glasses in hands, Chris is looking down at his phone with a smile on his face.

“That’s such a nice picture.” Chris moves on the sofa, looking way more relaxed now, and shows Darren his phone. “You were there when I took it, weren’t you?”

“Yeah man, that was the day we rescued Cooper.” Darren sits on one leg, facing Chris’s direction and studying his face carefully. “He looked so damn happy when he saw you that day, Chris. It was probably the cutest thing I’ve ever seen in my entire life.”

Chris giggles a little and bumps his knee against Darren’s leg, shifting lightly so they’re facing each other completely.

“He really did look happy,” he murmurs, biting his bottom lip ( _again, ugh, why?_ ) and fixing his gaze on Darren. He looks like he wants to say something, but instead he just glances at Darren and remains silent.

When Darren doesn’t say anything (and just sits there contemplating Chris’s face like an idiot), Chris rests his elbow on the sofa and hooks his chin over his open palm, never breaking eye contact, and Darren can feel all of his blood rushing through his goddamn _veins_.

His brain turns into complete and utter mush.

“Oh, to hell with it,” he mumbles before grabbing Chris’s face between both hands and pulling him closer, suddenly stopping less than an inch away from those unfairly beautiful lips. He takes a deep breath and nuzzles their noses together, mouth brushing against Chris’s but not kissing him, not just yet. He feels a puff of breath against his lips and it smells like mint and Chris is shaking a little against his palms and _what the hell is going on why aren’t we kissing yet and—_?

Darren doesn’t know who does it first — they probably meet somewhere in the middle — but Chris is closing his lips over Darren’s and his heart is beating so fast he’s afraid he’ll die of a heart attack right then and there.

His fingers move over chestnut hair as he covers Chris’s face in desperate kisses and gentle touches. By the time Darren presses one last lingering, delicate kiss against Chris’s wet lips, he’s already fully sitting on Darren’s lap.

“Full disclosure,” Darren whispers, caressing Chris’s face with trembling fingers and studying his incredibly beautiful blue eyes. “You know I’m fucking _in_ love with you, right?”

Chris’s eyes go so wide Darren thinks they might just pop right out of his head. He shakes it a little frantically and shifts against Darren’s lap, a hand moving up to rest against Darren’s cheek. “D—”

“Can I finish first?” He asks softly, eliciting a tiny nod from Chris. “Thank you,” he smiles and runs his thumb under Chris’s eyes. “I’ve been way too stupid about it, Chris. I was scared and did I mention _stupid?_ I didn’t understand my feelings back then either, until that night when we kissed and I was— Chris, man, I was so damn ready to tell you how I felt. But then you brushed it off as a drunken thing and I thought you didn’t want anything to do with me,” he admits, sighing softly and closing his eyes for a second. “Then things got complicated and our friendship got weird and suddenly you were showing up on set with your new boyfriend and I was a wreck.”

Chris interrupts him with a small gasp. “Darren, I— I had _no_ idea—”

“Shhh, it’s alright. Chord helped a lot back then.” He smiles a little, trying to break the tension. “But that’s it, that’s the whole story. I think. And I don’t want to freak you out, trust me, that’s the last thing in the world I’d possibly want, but- I do love you. I love you so much and I’m-I’m done, Chris. I’m done being afraid and hiding how I feel. I may be an idiot most of the time, but this? You and me? I’m sure. I want everything with you. I want-I want _you._ ”

Chris is speechless for several interminable seconds. Darren starts to think he’s trying to find a way to let him down gently so he looks down and takes Chris’s hand, lacing their fingers together while he’s still allowed. “You don’t need to say anything—”

“I don’t think I even know how to fall out of love with you,” Chris murmurs so quietly that Darren barely registers it. He rests both hands on Darren’s cheeks and leans in, pressing their foreheads together and whispering against his lips, “I’ve been falling for you since you took my hand at that tour party and I’ve been falling for you every single time you so much as smiled that goofy grin at me.” He brushed his thumb over Darren’s bottom lip, a small grin of his own painting his face. “And I want to keep falling for you every single day until we’re both so in love we can hardly take it.”

Darren feels like he can’t breathe, Chris is— Chris is falling in _love_ with him; he _loves_ him. They’re in _love, together_. Suddenly, it’s as if everything is falling into place.

Except for—

“You love me?” Darren smiles up at him, tone full of disbelief. “That’s— Shit, I don’t want to ruin the moment we’ve got going on here, but, um—” He stutters, struggling to find the right words. “What about— him?”

Even now with Chris in his arms, Darren can’t get himself to say the guy’s name. It’s ridiculous, really.

“I loved him too. Just-” He takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly, carefully. “Differently.”

“Loved?” Darren’s voice sound so desperate and hopeful that he can feel his cheeks turning red. “Past tense?”

“Yes, you idiot.” He tries to slap Darren’s arm but ends up hitting his ribs instead. “It’s not like I knew that this,” he gestures wildly between them, “was even an option. What I had with him was special and I won’t jeopardize it. But I can’t lie, I-I can’t say that a part of me didn’t always wonder what it would be like. With you.”

Darren just shakes his head like he doesn’t believe what he’s hearing, moves a hand to the back of Chris’s neck and pulls him in for a long, sweet kiss. “Shit, Chris. You can’t say things like that.”

Chris giggles wetly and Darren can feel a puff of warm breath against his face. “Well, it’s the truth. I did always wonder… But I get to find out now, right?”

“Absolutely right.”

*

Six months later, Darren moves in and learns that Chris’s cat is an incredibly crazy, jealous little shit (which explains the several claw marks on his left leg). And as if that wasn’t enough, Darren’s also very, very allergic. He has to remember to take his medicine regularly now — or rather, _Chris_ has to remind _him_ about it every single day. He even puts an alarm on Darren’s phone so he’ll remember to take it when Chris isn’t around (which Darren secretly thinks is totally adorable). Somehow, Brian and Darren love each other anyway. It’s a love-hate relationship but they both manage.

He also learns that Chris’s dog actually thinks that he’s still a puppy. Cooper ends up loving Darren so much that Chris constantly comes home to the sight of the two of them together — Darren strumming on his guitar while Cooper lies down at his boyfriend’s feet and looks like he’s genuinely listening.

One day, when Ashley lets herself in to drop off some of Chris’s clothes he left at her place, she finds the four of them dead asleep on their sofa — Chris’s arm over Darren’s chest, fingers intertwined together, while Cooper lazily lies on the floor beside them, and Brian is tucked comfortably against Darren’s stomach.

She smiles at the scene and almost screams at how cheesy and ridiculously adorable it is. But instead of yelling, she gets her phone and snaps a picture.

It ends up being Darren’s background for almost a year, until they adopt their own puppy together.

Darren has never thought that out of all things, Cooper would be what finally brought him and Chris together. But looking at their very little and very unconventional family now... All he feels is gratitude and happiness. _So much happiness._

He bites his lip and shakes his head fondly, almost burning the pancakes he’s making for his boyfriend. But then he’s feeling two strong arms around his waist and a firm, cold kiss placed on his bare shoulder.

“I could hear you thinking all the way from the bedroom.” Chris murmurs, running his open palms up and down Darren’s stomach. “Penny for your thoughts?”

At that, Darren ignores the pancakes for a second to turn around and look at Chris. He smiles at the sight of his sleepy, tired boyfriend and cups his cheeks, lazy blue eyes staring lovingly at him.

“Just thinking about how happy I am.” He says before kissing Chris once, just lightly. “About how I can’t believe this is my life.”

“ _Our_ life.” Chris corrects him. Darren can’t help but smile even bigger.

“Yes, our life.” Another kiss, this time longer and messier since they both can’t seem to stop smiling. “I love the sound of that.”

“And I love _you_ ,” Chris whispers quietly, almost like a confession. He doesn’t usually say it first, so Darren clings to those rare moments like a lifeline. “Very much.”

“I love you very much, too.” He whispers against Chris’s lips before joining them together once again, grinning like an idiot and feeling like the happiest man in the entire world.

He just hopes he won’t have to break into another house to save any of Chris’s — of _their_ — pets again.


End file.
